RCB pulled off a stunning victory over Mumbai Indians on Monday
Royal Challengers Bengaluru took two significant steps towards the play-offs as soon as the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 began. Even though its too early to say that Rajat Patidar’s men will end up in the top four by the time the league stages end on May 18, there are some optimistic signs.
They have beaten bitter rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by a margin of 50 runs at the Chepauk – for the first time since the inaugural 2008 season. Despite losing at home to Gujarat Titans, they are back to winning ways and that too in an away match against the other five-time champions Mumbai Indians.
On Monday, RCB pulled off a stunning 12-run win over MI at the Wankhede for the first time since 2015. This has more or less convinced Ambati Rayudu, who has played for both CSK and MI, that ‘Ee Saala Cup RCB de’ (This year the cup is RCB’s).
“If you look at their team, they have a pretty set combination. If you see the teams that are not doing well in the IPL, they are still trying their combinations. But RCB is one team, along with Delhi [Capitals (DC) and Punjab [Kings (PBKS)] to some extent, who have got their combinations well set for the season,” Rayudu said on ESPNCricinfo’s TimeOut show.
RCB had won the game while fighting against the tide as Virat Kohli (67 off 42 balls), Devdutt Padikkal (37 off 22 balls), Rajat Patidar (64 off 32 balls) and Jitesh Sharma (40 not out off 19 balls) set up a total of 221/5 in 20 overs.
Meanwhile, their bowlers Josh Hazlewood (2-37), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-48) and Krunal Pandya (4-54) made sure that MI stayed away from reaching the target with brilliant death-overs bowling despite a superb fightback by MI captain Hardik Pandya (42 off 15 balls) and Tilak Varma (56 off 29 balls).
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“I have always enjoyed their [RCB’s] cricket. We have fun at their expense, only because nobody talks about DC or Punjab. Only because RCB always has a team that can win the IPL. But somehow, they come short because of their own shortcomings. Nobody else defeats them, it’s them. But this year, with Patidar, ee sala cup RCB de (this year the cup is RCB’s),” Rayudu added.
RCB will next face Delhi Capitals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.
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